In foreground: Jeremy Brown outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. “He wore military gear, including a helmet, radio, a tactical vest, and prominently displayed large surgical trauma shears tucked into a pack sitting on the vest …” Credit: “Statement of Facts” and photos in U.S. Court records.
In a federal courtroom in Tampa, the trial of Jeremy Brown — a self-described Oath Keepers member, lauded 20-year U.S. Army Special Forces soldier and recently defeated Republican legislative candidate — is set to begin Monday, 14 months after he was arrested and detained in jail in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Brown, 48, faces nine federal felony counts and one misdemeanor: Two counts related to unlawfully owning two guns, two counts of possessing explosives, five counts of illegally possessing national security documents and one misdemeanor count of knowingly storing explosive material illegally, according to court documents from the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, Tampa division.
Each of the nine felonies carry penalties of up to 10 years’ imprisonment, and the misdemeanor, up to one year.
Brown is one of about 900 people charged with crimes stemming from the Jan. 6 riot in the Capitol, an event described as an act of domestic terrorism by the FBI and considered by historians as one of the worst days ever for American democracy.
But his legal case is unusual and controversial, as his supporters contend that he is a political prisoner who’s been unfairly detained in the Pinellas County jail for more than a year, allegedly on trumped-up charges.
While Brown was outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, he did not enter the building that day and the government does not claim that he committed violence at that time, court records show. He wasn’t arrested until Sept. 30, 2021, on accusations of trespassing near the Capitol and engaging in disorderly conduct, both federal misdemeanors in Washington, D.C.
However, those misdemeanors are not the focus of the trial starting Monday.
The Tampa trial is about the nine felony counts and one misdemeanor — that occurred during a search of Brown’s home and RV in Tampa at the time of his arrest.
Brown told the Florida Phoenix in a phone interview last week that it’s unlikely he’ll be found not guilty because everything about this trial is “rigged” against him – though he believes that what he considers “the truth” will be exposed after the trial.
“Everything is stacked against me, but once the trial happens, once the verdict is given, there’s no more changing the story,” he said. “They are going to say everything that they’re going to say, they’ll present everything that they’re going to present, and then after that you can’t go back and change it. The game’s over. Then the revelations will happen. Then all the evidence that was excluded at trial will come out, not only during the appeal process, but I predict that there are going to be many more whistleblowers from inside the FBI, inside the Department of Justice and other government agencies.”
The government intends to call six FBI forensic examiners as expert witnesses in the trial, as well as three members from U.S. Central Command, part of the U.S. Department of Defense. Brown’s defense has listed up to nine witnesses and the trial is expected to last around six or seven days, Brown’s attorneys say.
“All are encouraged to attend this historic trial in which Jeremy Brown will be arguing the fight for his life,” according to Tylene Aldridge, a contact on a Nov. 23 press release and who is included on the defense witness list. “This is a battle between an over-zealous federal prosecution that has disregarded almost every Constitutional right in his case that our Founding Fathers fought for and a decorated war hero who exposed their failed recruitment of him to become a spy against the American people.”
Agents spoke to Brown before Jan. 6
Brown’s case began in November 2020, when anger in right-wing circles was building about the presidential election being somehow “stolen” from Donald Trump, with federal authorities tracking “chatter” about potential violence to stop the peaceful transfer of power.
That chatter included a social media post by Brown “about trying to recruit people for civil war” that drew the attention of two government agents who spoke to Brown in Tampa on Dec. 9, 2020, according to court records from the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida.
Brown spoke with Homeland Security Investigations Special Agents Brett Lindsey and Paul Ura for about 20 minutes. The meeting was recorded by Brown and the transcript of that audio is included in court records.
It reveals that after discussing the social media post and being assured that Brown didn’t intend to “hurt anybody,” the agents pivoted to inquiring if he could provide information if he was aware of any “pending, imminent situation” in Tampa relating to domestic terrorism and suggested that they might pay him for providing such information to prevent a violent attack.
Ura said to Brown, “If you’re hearing stuff and you being around your group. And someone’s like, ‘Hey, we’re training tonight and tomorrow. Some sh—-‘s going to go down.’ You calling us and letting us know and we can prevent the next big thing,” the records show.
Ura goes on to say: “We’re not here adversarial. We’re here to clear your name and we’re also here if you wanna work with us in the future and you hear stuff in your circles…if you hear of a pending, imminent situation in Tampa. We would love to hear from you. And if we – and again – I can’t make any promises, but like if you provide information that prevents something big. The government pays for that.”
Brown responded: “If I hear anything, I’ll let you know.” About a month later, Brown was outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Law enforcement agents called Brown and spoke to him on Jan. 6 and 7, 2021, according to a description of facts from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia: “He told them that he was present in Washington, D.C. and provided security for VIPs at the ‘Stop the Steal’ rally.”
The U.S. government announced last week that it wanted to exclude that December 2020 audio recording from being admitted as evidence in the trial, considering it “hearsay.”
“The reality is it’s not hearsay. It’s literally (agents’) voices and my voice on a recording of which they knew they were being recorded, which is kind of crazy,” Brown told the Phoenix last week.
Melissa Loesch, one of Brown’s attorneys, argued in a court filing that the relevance of the recording to their case “cannot be overstated,” saying the defense believes federal agents planted evidence on Brown as “retaliation” because Brown later played the recorded conversation with the agents during an internet interview in March 2021.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew, who is presiding over the Brown trial, deferred on whether to allow the recording into the trial. She’ll likely decide later in the proceedings, according to attorney Roger Futerman, Brown’s lead counsel.
How Brown became a detainee
Screenshot of Jeremy Brown from banthis.tv taken in March 2021.
What happened during the nearly nine months between the attack on the U.S. Capitol and Brown being arrested?
He spent some time appearing on various right-wing online platforms, criticizing the federal government on various issues, boasting about his recorded conversation with the federal agents in December 2020, and how he refused to become an informant against the Oath Keepers, considered an extremist group.
Brown allegedly organized a trip to Washington, D.C., with other Oath Keeper members days before the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol. “Prior to the riots, he deposited his guns with individuals in Virginia and retrieved them after the riots,” according to a U.S. Department of Justice “statement of facts” report.
Screenshot of Jeremy Brown outside the Capitol Jan. 6, 2021, From Jeremy Brown defense website.
On Jan. 6, Brown was captured on video outside the Capitol wearing full military gear, including a helmet, radio, a tactical vest, and prominently displayed large surgical trauma shears, according to that statement of facts.
Following his Sept. 30, 2021 arrest, federal authorities executed a search warrant of his Tampa home and RV, with law enforcement recovering tactical gear, a Palmetto Armory rifle, a 410-gauge sawed-off shotgun, two military ordinance M67 grenades and boxes of ammunition, according to the Middle District of Florida court records. That search led to the numerous felony charges.
At his initial bond hearing, records show, U.S. Magistrate Sean P. Flynn refused to release Brown from custody, writing that he “poses a danger to law enforcement officials,” and that “no condition or combination of conditions of release will reasonably assure the safety of any other person and the community.”
Flynn was particularly troubled by a sign that Brown posted on the front door of his home that was directed to federal and local law enforcement officials that said that they “Better bring a bigger Tactical PACKAGE,” referring to weapons.
At the same time, Flynn made the decision to detain Brown though he offered praise to him for his military service.
“The Court begins by recognizing that Brown is an American hero,” Flynn wrote. “He served this country with distinction for 20 years in the United States Army, including 17 years as a member of the elite United States Army Special Forces.”
What did Brown do in jail?
In the most unconventional state House race in Florida this year, Brown launched a quixotic run while campaigning in jail. He qualified as a Republican candidate for House District 62 seat, against Democratic incumbent and civil rights attorney Michele Rayner.
Photo of Jeremy Brown supporters about to canvass for Brown in Tampa on Oct. 16, 2022. (Photo by Mitch Perry)
The district’s demographics (parts of eastern Hillsborough County and a section of South St. Petersburg) made it seemingly impossible for any Republican to win. And Brown ultimately lost by nearly 40 points. He ended up raising nearly $45,000 in the race, and spent almost $28,000, mostly for campaign supplies, according to campaign finance records.
It’s impossible to know how many of the 14,839 voters who supported Brown in the general election were aware of his legal situation.
Brown gives credit for his support to his “campaign commander,” Cathi Chamberlain, a Pinellas County conservative activist.
“As far as I’m concerned, Jeremy is the tip of the spear for saving our Constitution,” she said, “because every one of his constitutional rights has been abridged by the Department of Justice. By the prosecutors. By our court system. And if that can happen to Jeremy, that can happen to any one of us, especially now that they’ve assigned 87,000 new IRS agents out there.”
Oath Keepers and Brown
Brown explained how he became involved with the Oath Keepers, a group described by the Anti-Defamation League as “a large but loosely organized collection of right-wing anti-government extremists.”
“I joined the Oath Keepers shortly after the election,” Brown told the Phoenix on a call on Oct. 18. “The purpose in joining was I wanted to warn them that they were being set up, as ultimately which they’re being set up now, that they were going to be called ugly names and domestic terrorists.”
The U.S. Justice Department court records show that “the leader of the Florida branch of the Oath Keepers allegedly expressed concerns that Brown was a ‘loose cannon.'”
As Brown’s trial begins in Tampa Monday, a Washington D.C. jury last week found Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and Florida Oath Keeper leader Kelly Meggs guilty of seditious conspiracy following a two-month trial. The two men are now facing a maximum 20-year sentence.
Brown also is listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Oath Keepers trial in Washington, and he said that leaves the door open for him to be indicted if he is found innocent in the upcoming Tampa trial.
“Let’s just say hypothetically there is truth and there is justice in the world and the jury finds me not guilty because clearly, it’s obvious what’s going on here,” Brown said last week. “I walk out of this jail as a free man, they’ll simply indict me on seditious conspiracy, rearrest me and carry me to the D.C. jail. This is the groundwork which they’re laying.”
Shared from a friend of mine in NC: Sharing from several reliable sources:
“Good morning North Carolina.
As you wake up to the news of a coordinated attack on the power grid in Moore County, North Carolina, here are some things you should know.
- Proud Boys, small extremist fundamental churches, and other far-right groups (including neo-nazis) have been protesting drag shows and LGBTQ events across the state all year.
- Anti-gay protests and events have occurred in New Hanover County, Lee County, Cumberland County, Wake County, Stanly County, etc. According to GLAAD, North Carolina has the most attacks in the country this year.
- These events have been largely fueled by Proud Boys. Many of the same individuals show up at the events across the state. Some of the people showing up in Proud Boy colors also ran for office in this years elections as a way for them to try to gain power and normalize their extremist agendas.
- Last night, at least three substations were attacked and sabotaged in Moore County NC, while a drag event was taking place. 40,000 people in Moore are without power.
- A former pysops officer, Emily Grace Rainey, who lost her job at Fort Bragg after January 6th and who has been showing up with Proud Boys and others at these drag protests over the last few months, has been visited by law enforcement and posting about the power outages as if she is connected. She posted pictures of the theater hosting the drag show without power.
- Rainey has been on the radar of antifascists for years because of her activities and rhetoric and connections with extremist groups. She was a part of the "re-open" movement, ran for local office, organized buses to J6, etc.
- There are MANY "conservative" groups and people connected to Rainey who try to position themselves as mainstream while pushing extremist agendas. She is on the board of Education First NC run by Sloan Rachmuth. She has been a central part of pushing for "conservative" candidates, especially on school boards, across the state.
- The Moore County GOP posted last night about good versus evil being fought last night as extremist protestors gathered outside the drag show. Amped up rhetoric paves a road on which extremism can easily drive.
This has never been about "protecting children." Extremists have been looking for ways to attack our communities-- and by "our communities" I don't just mean LGBTQIA communities, but our entire big, broad communities that include all of us, all of you. They want to destabilize our hometowns, disrupt and take over local elected positions, damage our schools and institutions and create fear and chaos so they can seize power.
From disrupting school board meetings to protesting LGBTQIA events, they are claiming to want to "protect children" but events like what happened in Moore County prove that is not their endgame. They don't give a shit about your children.
Don't fall for it. With what is unfolding today in Moore County you should now know that if you go to one of these "Christian" events, attend an anti-queer protest, if you campaign for a candidate supporting anti-gay legislation, or put a check mark next to the name of a school board member running on anti-SEL or anti- CRT talking points, you are rubbing elbows and aligning yourself with a movement of terrorists.”
I’m not sure if you’ve heard the news, but the power grid in my county was attacked, leaving about 60% of Moore County without power. This has been tied to an intentional attack in protest of a drag show that was at a local venue known as the Sunrise Theater.
The show was intended to be a fundraising event for the local LGBTQ nonprofit but faced swift backlash and adversity online due to the initial setup of the show. On the night the show was planned, both supporting and opposing protestors set up outside of the venue. Those that protested the event included local leaders in the county, setting those of us that live in small towns in the south up for the stereotypes we get assigned.
When local leaders and so-called Christians come together to protest an event that was intended to be a fundraiser and choose to spread their ideas of hate and bigotry, it leaves those of us that are southern and not narrow-minded to have to clean up the mess. And now, even more of a mess has affected my community.
Our power is expected to be out for the majority of the week, if not longer. It’s being reported that over 40,000 homes and businesses have no power. There has been a state of emergency declared. All because someone decided to shoot substations allegedly in response to this drag show.
While no suspects have been named, there were some individuals who made it clear that they were in support of the loss of power. A woman by the name of Emily Grace Rainey made several posts on Facebook claiming to know “why” the power was out. She also claims to be the head of the “Moore County Citizens for Freedom” group, a conservative activist group that, I would assume, is not in favor of the freedoms of those in the LGBTQ-plus community.
Though details are still sparse, it looks as though the attacks on the power grid were intentional, and they may have been in direct response to the drag show on Saturday night.
This is the world we live in now – where people will attack infrastructure in order to make a point. And while the investigation will continue, now involving federal officials, it's clear that this may be a direct act of terrorism.
I'll keep you all posted as the situation continues to update, but just know that our LGBTQ-plus friends and family need us now as seemingly every single day there are more and more attacks on them. If you're in a position to do so, help us defeat this violent extremism by growing the No Dem Left Behind movement with your support today! It would be awesome to have you on this team!
Sappers clear the way! Airborne all the way! Major Richard Ojeda USA (Ret.)
Paid for by No Dem Left Behind PAC. Not authorized by any federal candidate or candidate's committee.
No Dem Left Behind 80M St. SE Suite 100 Washington D.C. 20003
PEACHY KEEN — Bay Staters are going all-in for another Georgia U.S. Senate runoff.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey joined President Joe Biden for a fundraiser for incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock at the swanky Beacon Hill abode of Jim and Cathy Stone on Friday. The DSCC event came after the trio helped union members make calls to Georgia voters from the IBEW Local 103 in Dorchester.
In other Massachusetts connections, Sydney Levin-Epstein, a local Democratic operative who lost her 413 state Senate bid this fall, is in Georgia serving as Warnock’s national events director. Embattled MassGOP Chair Jim Lyons is also getting in on the action, calling on Republicans to funnel money toward GOP nominee Herschel Walker — though he listed the wrong day for the election in one of his fundraising emails (it’s Tuesday).
And UMass Lowell is out today with a new poll of the Peach State showing Warnock slightly ahead of Walker. The Democrat leads the Republican 51 percent to 46 percent in the poll of 1,300 likely voters conducted Nov. 18-28 with a margin of error of +/- 3.2 percentage points. Warnock led Walker by less than one point in the November election — an indication tomorrow’s results will be close. Emerson College also showed a tight race in its late November poll .
President Joe Biden speaks on the phone while visiting a phone bank at International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 103, Friday, Dec. 2, 2022, in Boston. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks on a phone at right. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) | AP
Biden laid out the runoff stakes in simple terms when he was here Friday. Right now, control of the Senate is split 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris giving Democrats the edge through her tie-breaking votes. Democrats and the independents who caucus with them won 50 seats in the November election, while Republicans won 49. If Walker wins the Georgia runoff, the power balance in the Senate remains as it is now while the House shifts to Republican control in January. If Warnock holds his seat, Democrats gain a little wiggle room after, as Biden put it at the IBEW, navigating the demands of “50 presidents” within their own party — hint: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) — for the past two years. “We need that 51st seat,” the president said.
But the Warnock element of Biden’s visit was largely overshadowed by his meeting with Prince William and the protest he faced over his controversial deal to avert a potentially crippling freight rail workers’ strike. A couple hundred rail workers and advocates, organized by the local Democratic Socialists of America, picketed outside the JFK Library where the president was meeting the prince. And they provided an intriguing split screen with the show of union support Biden was putting on over at the IBEW, where he got a warm welcome, as his administration works to soothe its relationships with the rail unions.
GOOD MONDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Attorney General-elect Andrea Campbell is rolling out her transition team today,a diverse group of office alums, former mayors, ex-law enforcement officials, criminal justice advocates and partners at major local firms. It’s chaired by former first assistant attorneys general Mary Strother and Stephanie Lovell, former Suffolk District Attorney Ralph Martin and Brent Henry, health care partner at Mintz.
The transition team — directed by Campbell campaign manager Will Stockton — consists of a hiring committee and a “Ready on Day One” committee split into five subcommittees focused on different bureaus of the attorney general’s office.
Notable names include Lawyers for Civil Rights Executive Director Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal; state Sen. Lydia Edwards; former Plymouth DA candidate Rahsaan Hall; former state Sen. Ben Downing and Michael Curry of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, who both serve on Gov.-elect Maura Healey’s transition team; former state Sen. Barbara L’Italien, now the executive director of the Disability Law Center; and Environmental League of Massachusetts President Elizabeth Turnbull Henry.
TODAY — Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito attend a South Coast Rail ribbon-cutting ceremony at 9:30 a.m. in Assonet. Polito and EEA Secretary Beth Card announce the creation of the Massachusetts Office of Outdoor Recreation at 4 p.m. at Wachusett Mountain in Princeton.
— “Getting our ‘Fair Share’ will take unified approach, lawmakers say,”by Nino Mtchedlishvili, BU Statehouse Program/Berkshire Eagle: “Western Massachusetts lawmakers say they need a unified approach to advocate for their communities’ needs creatively and persuasively as decisions are made on Beacon Hill on how to divvy up the money that will be generated by passage of the Fair Share Amendment.”
FROM THE HUB
Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales, greet U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry as they attend the second annual Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway, in Boston, Friday, Dec. 2, 2022. (Brian Snyder/Pool Photo via AP) | AP
— ROLLING OUT THE GREEN CARPET: The Prince and Princess of Wales’ trip across the pond culminated Friday evening with their Earthshot Prize awards ceremony at the MGM Music Hall in Fenway. The red carpet was green. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu wore a sustainable gown made of 1970s rug yarns with audio cassette tape woven into the fabric and a sash made of repurposed fallen umbrellas. Five international climate innovators won $1.2 million (1 million pounds) apiece to help expand their work . David Beckham, Catherine O’Hara, Rami Malek, Shailene Woodley, Daniel Dae Kim, Ellie Goulding, Chloe x Halle and Annie Lennox presented or performed. Billie Eilish, to the dismay of many, videoed her performance in. Former Massachusetts governor and current Utah Sen. Mitt Romney shaved his beard.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and her husband Conor Pewarski pose for a photo as they arrive at the second annual Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony at the MGM Music Hall, Friday, Dec. 2, 2022, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm) | AP
The royals entered the room to someone in the audience apparently shouting "Free Ireland," but it was quickly followed by a scream of "We love you, Kate." The ceremony opened with a land acknowledgment from a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. While most of Massachusetts’ big names were seated at tables on the first floor, Romney was at a table on the second-floor balcony, POLITICO’s Ally Mutnick writes in. The Boston Globe’s Mark Shanahan and the Boston Herald’s Sean Philip Cotter have more details.
Massachusetts Gov.-elect Maura Healey, center right, sits at The Earthshot Prize Awards at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway, in Boston, Friday, Dec. 2, 2022. (David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool) | AP
— SPOTTED at the Earthshot awards: presidential climate envoy John Kerry and his daughter, Vanessa; Romney and his wife, Ann; Gov. Charlie Baker and his wife, Lauren; Wu and her husband, Conor Pewarski; Gov.-elect Maura Healey and her sister, Caitlin Healey; Attorney General-elect Andrea Campbell ; Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and her son and daughter; Sen. Ed Markey, former Rep. Joe Kennedy III, Boston City Council President Ed Flynn, Boston City Councilor Kenzie Bok, state Sen. Lydia Edwards at the bar with fellow East Boston state Rep. Adrian Madaro and City Councilor Gigi Coletta; state Reps. Rob Consalvo, Jeff Roy and Andy Vargas; Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck, Miss Massachusetts Katrina Kincade, BPDA Chief Arthur Jemison, former Boston City Councilor Matt O’Malley and former Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone (h/t Mutnick and Cotter).
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PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES
— “Walsh helped avoid a rail strike, but now must mend Biden administration relations with angry unions,”by Jim Puzzanghera and Jackie Kucinich, Boston Globe: “Despite the disappointment and anger from some rail workers and labor advocates — including about 200 who protested the deal outside an appearance by Biden in Boston Friday — [Labor Secretary Marty] Walsh said the [agreement with the rail unions] still represented a victory for unions [despite the lack of paid sick leave]. ‘It’s definitely a win because when we first got involved in this, this contract wasn’t going anywhere,’ he said in an interview. He noted that the five-year deal, retroactive to 2020, includes a total pay raise of 24 percent and improved health care benefits. But Walsh has work to do to smooth over relations with organized labor after forcing a deal on union members who had voted to reject it.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Katherine Clark, the House Democratic whip-elect,both faced questions about the rail deal on the Sunday politics shows. Warren, who voted against the deal because it didn't include additional paid sick days, told WCVB's "On the Record" that "the issue is not gone. I, along with a lot of other senators, said we have to stay on this question about forcing people to work sick and injured."
Asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" whether she was "comfortable" with Democrats passing a bill preventing the addition of more sick time, Clark said it's a "national shame that we do not have paid sick leave in this country as a national policy for every single worker" and that her party would continue to push for it.
— “MassDOT, Amtrak, CSX seek $108 million in rail improvements between Springfield and Worcester,”by Jim Kinney, Springfield Republican: “The state Department of Transportation and rail companies Amtrak and CSX Corp. applied [last] week for $108 million in federal transportation money to help fund improvements along the 53 miles of railroad between Springfield and Worcester. Once the improvements happen, the plan is to add two daily Amtrak trips between Boston, Worcester and Springfield as a first phase of east-west rail.”
A message from NextEra Energy:
YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS
— “Mass. 2022 midterm: Why did the poorest communities have a low voter turnout?”by Alvin Buyinza, MassLive: “In cities with high poverty rates like Lynn, New Bedford and Lawrence, no more than 35% of voters cast their vote in the midterm election. Meanwhile, in wealthy communities like Eastham, Carlisle and Mount Washington over 70% of registered voters turned out to the polls. Officials in some of the state’s poorest areas cite a high number of uncontested races in their municipality as one of the root causes behind their low voter turnout.”
DAY IN COURT
— “Former Natick official to serve 15 days in jail for her part in the Jan. 6 attack,”by Deborah Becker, WBUR: “The former Natick town official charged with participating in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol has been sentenced to 15 days in jail. Suzanne Ianni was sentenced in federal court in Washington, D.C. Friday for charges of entering the Capitol building last year to protest President Biden's election. She will have to report to the federal Bureau of Prisons to begin serving the sentence. The date for her to report has not been set.”
— “Fall River city councilor seeks to have felony charges dropped in 'love triangle' case,”by Jo C. Goode, Herald News: “The obstruction and harassment case against City Councilor Pam Laliberte continues as a Fall River district court judge decides on her request to drop two felony charges and send the remaining misdemeanor counts to be handled in a closed-door magistrate clerk’s hearing. However, the Bristol County District Attorney’s office wants to pursue the felony charges against Laliberte, who was City Council president until the news of the criminal case against her emerged publicly.”
— “Man charged for allegedly voting in Mass. and N.H. in 2016 election,”by Adam Sennott, Boston Globe: “A man who has residences in Massachusetts and New Hampshire has been indicted for allegedly voting in each state during the 2016 presidential election, according to New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella’s office."
PARTY POLITICS
— “MassGOP leadership race heats up, with some candidates vowing to forgo $100G salary to get job done,”by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: “MassGOP Chair Jim Lyons rakes in roughly $100,000 per year as leader of a party that failed to win a single statewide election this November, a salary that two candidates eyeing his job vowed not to take amid the state committee’s fundraising difficulties. ‘I have made a commitment to do the job without a salary,’ said Amy Carnevale, a longtime MassGOP committee member who is mulling a run for chair. Jon Fetherston, a former chair of the Ashland Republican Town Committee and longtime host of the ‘All Politics is Local’ podcast, said he would also forgo a salary and work the chair position as a volunteer.”
JOIN WEDNESDAY FOR A POLITICO DISCUSSION ON THE NEW TRAVEL EXPERIENCE : Americans are now traveling in record numbers — but the travel experience has changed drastically in recent years, not always for the better. What lessons can we learn from the pandemic and different responses around the globe? And in the face of a possible recession, what will help the travel industry remain vibrant and deliver jobs? Join POLITICO onDec. 7 for “The Travel Experience Redefined” to discuss these questions and more. Breakfast and coffee will be provided. REGISTER HERE .
FROM THE 413
— “Pittsfield councilors want answers on whether a cell tower could be making people ill,”by Meg Britton-Mehlisch, Berkshire Eagle: “After months of silence — and the launch of a lawsuit with several city defendants — the Pittsfield City Council is wading back into the longstanding dispute between Verizon Wireless and Shacktown residents who say a cell tower makes them sick. [Last] week, the majority of city councilors voted to support petitions that ask either Mayor Linda Tyer or Council President Peter Marchetti to send letters to state and federal representatives asking them to advocate that the Federal Communications Commission reevaluate its radiofrequency exposure limits.”
THE LOCAL ANGLE
— “Massachusetts enacted its most ambitious housing law in decades. Now the hard part is enforcing it,”by Andrew Brinker, Boston Globe: “John Gollinger is scrambling. Two months ago, Gollinger, the executive director of the Waltham Housing Authority, learned that the state is cutting its contribution to his budget next year by more than $300,000. … Even more perplexing than the cuts, Gollinger says, is the reason for them: Waltham’s failure to comply with early procedural requirements of the state’s new MBTA Communities law, an ambitious effort to tackle Massachusetts’ housing crisis by mandating new multifamily zoning in communities served by the MBTA.”
MEANWHILE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
— FITN IN JEOPARDY: "DNC moves forward with dramatic change to presidential primary calendar,"by Elena Schneider, POLITICO: "Members of the party’s Rules and Bylaws Committee, charged with recommending a new calendar, gave a near-unanimous vote of approval on Friday for [President Joe] Biden’s proposal, with only minor tweaks to the dates and two ‘no’ votes from Iowa and New Hampshire members. The revised proposal would see South Carolina host the first 2024 presidential primary on Feb. 3, a Saturday, followed three days later by New Hampshire and Nevada. Georgia would then hold an early primary on Feb. 13, and Michigan would hold its contest on Feb. 27. Iowa would be out of the early lineup altogether. ... [The proposal could] spell the end for New Hampshire, as Democrats there threaten to still hold their presidential primary first, a move they insist they must do to comply with state law."
— NOT RUNNING: New Hampshire GOP Chair Steve Stepanek, a former Trump campaign co-chair in the Granite state, says he won't seek a third term leading the party. State party Vice Chair Pamela Tucker is also stepping down. Stepanek was likely to face a leadership challenge after Republicans lost key races.
TRANSITIONS — Jennifer Benson is stepping down as president of the Alliance for Business Leadership to “pursue a new opportunity supporting Massachusetts’ growing clean energy industry,” according to the ABL. Benson will continue to serve on ABL’s Climate and Energy Council.
— New York state Health Commissioner Mary Bassett is leaving in January to return to Harvard University's T.H. Chan School of Public Health, per The Associated Press .
— POLITICO's Shannon Young, a #mapoli alum, is joining Morning Brew as a health care reporter.
— Business Journals' higher education editor Hilary Burns is joining the Boston Globe as a higher ed reporter.
— Elana Ross is now director of strategic comms at the Health Resources and Services Administration at HHS. She previously was deputy comms director for Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Merrilee Rogers of Rep. Jake Auchincloss' office, Ellen Parker, Simon Jerome and Greg Timilty. Happy belated to MassLive's Alison Kuznitz and the Boston Globe’s Jackie Kucinich, who celebrated Sunday.
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